Play device



1932- w. o. PARROTT' PLAY DEV-ICE Filed May 16. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 8- 1932- w. o. PARROTT 1,874,345

PLAY DEVI GE Filed May 16. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 \Vhipple O. 'Parrott device illustrating an Patented Aug. 30, 1932 UNITED STATES .EPA'IENT oFrrcE wrrI-rrLE o. rannomr, oncnrciaeo, ILLINOIS IVLTAY DEVICE A pplleationifiled a 1c, 1929. Serial No. 383,456.

My invention relates toplay devices and partlcularlyto suspended play devices, and

has for an object to rovide a device for carrylng an occupant, ada'ptedto swing in a plurality of different ways. Another object of the ative to the support.

invention resides in providing a support and in suspending from said support a plurality of hangers, said hangers carrying. a seat adapted to swing rel- A still further object of thejinvention resides in constructingthe support with a pair of supporting members, and in adjustably connectingthe ends of said hangers to said supporting members so as to permit of varying the angular relation of said hangers to cause the seat to swing invarious ways. f

A still further object of the invention resides in connecting the lower endsiof'said hangers to said member, and in constructing details of construction and described.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevati vention.

onal

hereinafter illustrated view of a play embodiment of my in- Figs. 2 and 3 arevi-ews similar to Fig.1 illustrating the parts in various positions.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the 1 drawn to'a larger structure shown in Fig. scale.

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail view of the lower end of one of the hangers 'illustrating the method of attachment thereof porting structure, I i

to the seat sup- My invention comprises primarily a support A from which is suspended a plurality of hangers and 11 carrying at their lower end a seat structure B. The hangers 10 and 11 are adapted to be adjustably positioned relative to the support'A so as to cause the seat structure B to swing in a number of differentways similating in some respects the natural movement of leaping animals. The seat structure B is constructed so as to provide several seats adapted to be quickly brought into operative position at the will of a user. The construction and use of various parts of the invention will now be described in detail. 7 i

The support A consists of end framemem bers 12 and 13 which comprise uprights 14 and 15 connected together at their lower ends by means of transverse bars 16 and 17 and at their upper ends by means of transverse frame members 18 and 19. The uprights 14 andthe transverse frame members 18 and 19 are preferably constructed of angle iron while the bars 16 and 17 may be constructed of strap iron or of any other shape desired. In addition to the end framemembers 12' and 13, I employ longitudinal frame members 20 and 21 which are secured to the uprights 14 and 15. at their upper ends. The entire support is rigidly braced by means of. braces 22 and23 which are connected to the various uprights 14 and 15 and to the longitudinal frame members 20 and 21 and the transverse frame members 18 and 19*respectively. V

Near-the longitudinal frame member 21 are arranged two spaced parallel rods 24 and 25 which are attached to thetransverse frame members 18 and -19. These rods extend through the depending flanges 26 thereof and are held from longitudinal movement in respect to said flanges by means of cotter keys 27. Two similar rods'28 and 29 are attached to the said transverse frame members in the same manner as the rods 24 and 25, and are positioned adjacent the longitudinal frame tached to rings 30, 31, 32 and 33 which are slidablealong the rods 24, 25, 28 and 29 respectively.

The seat structure B in the embodiment of the invention illustrated is in the form of the body of a horse and is provided on the upper portion thereof with a saddle 34 serving as a seat, adapted to comfortably carry the occupant. The seat structure may be con structed in a. fanciful manner by including a horses head 35 or by employing any other construction similating in appearance the body or head of an animal. The underside of the seat structure B is preferably hollowed out as designated in dotted lines at 36 in Fig- I" ure 3 and is formed in addition with asecond seat 37. Upon inverting the seat structure B, the seat 37 becomesdisposed uppermost as indicated by, dotted lines at 38 in Figure 3 in which case the space 36 Within the body of the animal serves as a compartment for the reception of the occupants feet. If desired, the seat 37 may be constructed similar to the seat 34 so as to require the occupant to straddle the body B the same as is required with W the seat 34 and the seat structure provided with the head of an animal such as a lion or tiger in identically the same manner as the horses head 35. It can readily be comprehended that various kinds of animals may be 7 utilized with the invention in place of the plain seat 37 or the saddle 34 without departing from the spirit of the invention.

For the purpose of supporting the seat structure B the same is formed with four outwardly extending arms 39, 40, 41 and 42 issuing from the two sides of the same at the rearward and forward portions thereof. These arms may be formed by extending two rods through the body of the seat structure or '1 in any other desirable manner. -The ends of these arms are provided with grooves 43, best shown in Figure 5, which are adapted to receive rings 44 attached to the lowermost ends of the chains 10 and 11. By means of this 55 construction the seat structure B is supported in such a manner as to permit of the swinging thereof relative to the support A and of in verting the seat structure as will be hereafter described.

The hangers 10 and 11 are'adjustably supported upon the rods 24, 25, 28 and 29 and may be adjusted and held in adjusted position by ineans of a structure illustrated in Figure 4. The upper portion of each'of the rings 30,

(i3 31, 32 and 33 is formed with an attaching member 45 to which is securely fastened at suitable intervals a cable 46. Cable 46 is adapted to pass about a pair of pulleys 47 and 48 attached to the transverse frame member 18 and in addition about other pulleys 49, 50, 51 and 52 attached to the transverse frame member 19. These various pulleys are so positioned as to divide the cable 46 into four spaced parallel longitudinal runs 53, 54, 55 and 56 which extend along rods 24, 25,28 and 29 in parallel superimposed relation thereto. By means of two other pulleys 57 and 58, ends of the cable 46, which I have designated at 59, may be brought down along the upright 15 and secured thereto by means of a cleat attached to said upright.

In the use of the device, the occupant has the choice of either of the seats 34 or 37 by merely inverting the seat structure B. This is permitted through the swivel connection of the rings 44 to the arms 39, 40, 41 and 42. By adjusting the points of attachment of the hangers 10 and 11 with respect to the various rods 24, 25, 28 and 29 the angular position of the chains 10 and 11 may be varied at will. This is accomplished by pulling on one or the other of the ends 59 of the cable 46 which moves the rings 30 and 32 in one direction and the rings 31 and 33 in the opposite direction. After the hangers have been properly positioned, the same may be held from movement by securing the ends of the cable to the cleat 60 in the usual manner.

By varying the points of suspension of the hangers 10 and 11 relative to the supporting members 24, 25, 28 and 29 different effects may be had in the swinging of the seat structure B. WVhen the two hangers 10 and 11 are parallel as indicated by fulllines in Figure 1, the seat moves in a parallel manner with respect to the ground, raising slightly at the two ends of its course. By spreading the two sets of hangers as shown by dotted lines at 61 in Figure l the forward portion of the seat structure is caused to drop while the rear- 3 ward portion is caused to raise as the seat reaches the endof its course. This gives the seat structure a movement similating that produced by a bucking horse. When the two sets of hangers 10 and 11 are crossed as designated in full lines in Figure 2, the forward portion of the seat structure raises at the end of the course and the rearward portion drops. This gives the seat structure a movement similating that of a rearing horse. VJ hen the upper ends of the hangers 10 and 11 have been spaced a distance equal to the distance between the respective lugs 41 and 42, the seat structure B will assume the position shown in dotted lines at 62 in Figure 2 when at its uppermost position. The degree of rearing or bucking desired may be regulated by varying the distance apart of the points of attachment of the hangers to the support. The greater this distance the greater the bucking or rearing action. When the rings 30, 31, 32 and 33 are directly opposite one another, as indicated in full lines in Figure 3, the seat structure B swings in the arc of a circle similar to an ordinary swing. V

When it is desired to utilize the seat 37, the seat structure B is merely inverted to take the position shown in Figure 3. This is readily accomplished by means of the swivel connection between the arms 39, 40, 41 and 42 and the hangerslO and 11. When the seat structure is so positioned, the hangers and 11 may be adjusted by means of the cable 46 to cause the said hangers to occupy any of the relative positions had by the seat structure in its other position so that either seat may be used and so that the seat structure may be caused to swing in any of the various ways described in conjunction with the other seat.

My invention is highly advantageous in that a simple and effective device is produced whereby considerable diverse amusement may be had by the occupant. The seat structure may be readily constructed to similate various animals and can be readily manipulated to bring either of the seats into operative posi tion. The hangers of the seat are readily and conveniently adjustable with respect to one another to vary the movement of the seat structure to similate the natural movements 1. A play device comprising a support ineluding a pair of supporting members adapted to rest upon the ground and to extend upwardly therefrom, a pair of hangers sus pended from said supporting members and slidably relative thereto, a seat carried by 1 said hangers and adjusting means connected with said hangers and extending downwardly along one of said supporting members for sliding said hangers, said means being operable from the ground. 7

2. In a play device, a seat arranged to swing in a front to back direction, two guides extending in a front to back direction and coextensive for a portion of the length thereof, members independently slidable along the coextensive portions of said guides, a hanger secured to one of saidmembers and to said seat at the forward portion thereof, and a second hanger secured to said second member and to the seat at the rearward portion thereof 3. In a play device, a seat arranged to swing in a front to back direction, two guides extending in a front to back direction and coextensive for a portion of the length thereof, members independently slidable along the coextensive portions of said guides, a hanger secured to one of-said members and to said seat at the forward portion thereof, and a secondhangersecured to'said second member and to, the 'seat'at the rearward portion thereof, v a ridx means attached to said members for simultaneously movingf'sa'id members in {op posits directions along saidguides. k '45 Ina'pla'y "device, a seat arranged to swing in a front to back direction, two guides extendingirf a front to back direction and'eoextensive for a portion of the length' thereof,

members independently slidable along the coextensive portions of said guides, a hanger secured to one of said members and to said seat at the forward portion thereof, and

a second hanger secured to said second' member and to the seat at the rearward portion thereof, a pulley at one end of said guide, and a cord passing over said pulley and having two reaches, one being attached to one hanger and the other reach to the other hanger for moving said members in opposite directions along said guides.

5. in a play device, a seat arranged to swing in a front to back direction, four guides extending in a front to back direction and coextensive for a portion of the length thereof, members independently slidable along the coextensive portions of said guides,'a pair of hangers secured to two of said members and to said seat at the forward portion thereof, a second pair of hangers secured to the other two of saidmembers and to the seat at the rearward portion thereof, two pulleys at corresponding ends of said guides and a cord passing about saidpulleys and having pairs of reaches movable in opposite directions, means at the other ends of the guides for further guiding the cord the members connected to the forward portion of the seat being movable by reaches of said cord traveling in one direction and the other members being movable by reaches of said cord traveling in the opposite direction.

6. In a play device, a seat arranged to swing in a front to back direction, four guides extending in a front to back direction and coextensive for a portion of the length thereof, members independently slidable along the coextensive portions of said guides, a pair of hangers secured to two of said members and to said seat at the forward portion thereof, a second pair of hangers secured to the other two of said members and to the seat at the rearward portion thereof, two pulleys at corresponding ends of said guides, two intermediate pulleys at the'other ends of said guides, two outer pulleys adjacent the intermediate pulley and a cord passing successively about one outer pulley along a guide, about one of the first named pulleys back along the corresponding guide about one intermediate pulley, about the other intermediate pulley along another guide, about the second of the first mm p le s, back along he corr sponding guide, and afi It. ,thg last namd o u t r pulley to prqvide two reaches traveling in one direcienand two reaches tr-EWGling in the opposite dimgtiqn -tlm members, Qannectfid to the for- Wa d por ion of the seat bei g mo able. by an hes Q said 0 rd raveling in on direction and the oth xm mbers being movable by lq QhQS 0 said card. trawling m the, opposite direction.

. In, testimany whereof I have, aflixed my signatu e to t is specification. WHIPELE 0 PARROTT. 

